Wednesday, September 28, 2005

ROYAL Endurance Team riders Salem Al Otaibi and Mohammed Abdulaziz will be taking part in an endurance horseride race in France on Friday.

This event will be held over 160 kms.

The participation of both riders follows the directives of the Bahrain Royal Equestrian and Endurance Federation (Breef) deputy president Shaikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Khalifa and will part of their preparations for the World Juniors Championship to be held in Bahrain in December.

Salem and Mohammed extended their thanks and appreciation to Shaikh Khalid for this decision and confirmed their keenness to give off their best in regional and international championships.

Meanwhile, Breef have invited all the stables in the Northern Governorate to attend an important meeting today at 6.30pm at the federation's premises in Awali.

Shaikh Khalid said the meeting will be held to solve the problems stables and provide them various facilities for the new season following directives from His Majesty King Hamad.

SAN JOSE, Calif. ? An ad hoc industry group has taken its first step toward delivering in the first half of 2006 a hardware-security standard for cellphones.

The Trusted Computing Group released 11 user scenarios that are the basis for the spec it will release before next June.

The TCG established a standard for verifying the integrity of PCs more than a year ago. It specifies use of a security device, called the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), that creates cryptographic keys to identify a system?s integrity and provide secure data storage and execution space as needed. Developing a version of that spec for the more complex mobile sector has so far proved slow going.

That is due in part to the wide variety and diversity of stakeholders in the cellular industry. Active members in the TCG?s mobile work group include Authentec, Ericsson, France Telecom, IBM, Infineon, Intel, Lenovo, Motorola, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, VeriSign, Vodaphone and Wave Systems."

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Endurance GB has announced the young rider team for the World Championships in Bahrain 05

Six experienced young endurance riders will be vying for gold at the FEI World Young Rider Championships in Bahrain (17 December). Endurance GB named the six-strong team following strong performances at the final team selection ride at Sherwood recently.

Four of the horse and rider combinations will journey to Bahrain at the beginning of December in order to start acclimatising their horses to the fierce Middle-Eastern temperatures. The remaining two are already based in Dubai, ensuring their horses are well used to the hot conditions.

?Acclimatisation will be the biggest single difficulty?, says Endurance GB international chairman Maggie Maguire. ?The British-based horses will be used to winter conditions.?

Zara Moon and Philip Hirst have both been selected to represent Britain for a second time. Moon, who is last year's EGB overall champion, will be partnering her International horse Yamavah. Dubai-based Hirst will be riding his mother's Vlaq Khamul.

Anna Williams is another experienced team member, who has represented Britain on two previous occasions. Wiliams will be partnering the eight-year-old H S Saboteur, who completed his first 120km in one day at Cirencester 2005. Alice Beet from Surrey will be partnering Harmatan de Lozere, who she qualified in Dubai last year, and Gemma Parkin, from Derbyshire will be riding Lutandorvici.

Abigail Lockett, from Stafford has been selected with the experienced Delorto Zaranz, who has already competed abroad at Wicklow Hills 1999 and was at the WEG in Jerez in 2002. Winscombe-based Rachel Harvey is reserve with Sarah Ryson's Prince Imperial.

?All the young riders are excellent,? Maguire says. ?They have all had a lot of success.?

Competitors will be required to journey 120km through the desert during the course of one day. ?Consistent cantering in a rhythm is the key to conserving energy,? says Maggie Maguire, ?In this country rides often require lots of stopping and starting but in the desert you can pretty much canter the whole ride?.

Each of the riders has completed at least one 120km endurance ride since November last year and are accustomed to pacing distances according to the physical build of their horse and the terrain and weather conditions.

They will all use heart monitors to check the conditions of their horse throughout the course of the Championship ride and will be required to present their horse to the vet at various set intervals to be checked as fit to continue.

?It is a considerable test,? Maguire explains, ?It is all about doing it within the capabilities of the horse?.

The team will be given advice by team vet Adam Driver who has spent the last two winters in Dubai and who understands the conditions and the impact they have on foreign horses.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

US Equestrain FederationSeptember 23, 2005Merial's ULCERGARD™ and GASTROGARD® Named

"Official Equine Stomach Ulcer Products of the USEF"

Lexington, KY— Merial, a world leader in animal healthcare, has joined the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) as its newest corporate partner. Though the partnership may be new, USEF athletes and veterinarians have depended on Merial for years, as its trusted products have long been used by USEF team horses as they travel to events both nationally and internationally.

Through this partnership, we are pleased to announce that ULCERGARD™ and GASTROGARD® (omeprazole) from Merial, have become the "Official Equine Stomach Ulcer Products of the USEF". These products will be made available to all USEF team horses to prevent stomach ulcers that are often associated with the stresses that come from confinement, training, travel, and competition.

"As a longtime supporter of the USEF and their equestrian teams, we are pleased to make our partnership official," said Jeannine Courser, Product Manager, Merial Equine Pharmaceuticals. "As a company dedicated to the health and well being of animals, we share a mutual commitment to maintaining a horse's health and keeping horses ulcer-free so that they have the stomach to perform at their best."

Merial offers the only two products on the market that are proven to prevent and treat stomach ulcers in horses. Available through veterinarians, ULCERGARD allows horse owners to proactively prevent stomach ulcers whenever their horse is exposed to stressful situations such as training, travel and competition, while GASTROGARD treats stomach ulcers and allows horses to continue training and competing while the ulcers heal.

For more information on Merial's equine ulcer products, visit www.ULCERGARD.com or www.GASTROGARD.com.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

This year was the 25th anniversary of the "Shahzada" a 400k Endurance Marathon, held each year at St.Albans near Wiseman's Ferry, this ultimate test of endurance riding is run over a 400 k course of 80k's a day for five days. This year as for the last three, the McDonald valley was gripped by drought making for beautiful sunny days, however it was very dry, dusty and hard underfoot. The course varying from flat hard gravel roads, to climbs up and down steep rocky tracks and some lovely sandy trails along the ridges through national parks and private property.

The event this year was held from 22nd - 26th August, although riders and horses start to gather at the village of St Albans from the Wednesday before to allow the horses time to settle in and recoup from their sometimes long float trip and riders time to relax and socialize before the marathon begins. This year there were eight competitors from Queensland, one from South Australia and two from Victoria, from a total of 60 entries, 16 riders were attempting Shahzada for the first time.

This year the Lachlan Endurance Riders Club had three riders pre-nominated for the event, however unfortunately Petrina Besedic's mare injured herself two weeks before so only Robyn Gossip from Tallwood riding her Arab gelding "Sudan" and Karen Rhodes from Woodstock riding her Stock Horse X Arab gelding " Shadow" started, with Robyn withdrawing after 240ks as the rigors of the course took their toll.

Karen and Shadow who have developed a special relationship over the last five years continued to successfully complete the course, being one of only fourteen to do so.

This was Karen's twelfth successful Shahzada completion from thirteen attempts and Shadow's fourth completion from four attempts. Karen's previous successes were seven from eight attempts riding her home breed Australian Stock Horse mare "Karrana Kelly" and her first attempt and successful completion back in 1993 was riding the Stock Horse gelding "Barry's Buzz" owned by local Woodstock identity Barry Blinman.

I asked Karen why she keeps going back to compete in the Shahzada each year and her reply was, "because it reassures me that I am still capable, Shahzada is a personal challenge that I enjoy, it is a true test of horsemanship, not just a race and there is a lot of satisfaction in having a horse that listens to you and is kind to you." "A good endurance horse has to have legs of steel and a heart of gold"

"Besides Shahzada is a great social week, with my sister Anne and Brother in-law Steve coming down from Queensland to compete each year and our friends and relatives who live in Sydney and Gosford usually drive down to visit us. We also enjoy the company of the alternating members of the Lachlan Club who come each year, as well as catching up with many friends and acquaintances from the endurance fraternity at large"

Lachlan Endurance Riders were well represented in the three day training ride which attracted 50 entries, it was 40 ks a day for the three days Tuesday to Friday. Petrina Besedic riding her paint stallion "DAVELYNN RAPT IN BLACK", Matt Thuaux riding his Arab X Stockhorse "ALOHA MINGARA", Ray Rhodes riding his new Stock Horse gelding "CHARLIE", Annette Bailey riding her Arab gelding "ROSEMONT PATHFINDER" and Andrew Bailey riding his new Arab gelding "ALOHA ZELUS"

Unfortunately Matt and Andrew both had lameness problems on the second day and didn't get to finish, however Annette, Petrina and Ray rode their young horses around for successful completions.

The semen of the horse RSC El Deb Haran, property of the businessman Claudio Bagarolli, will be exported to the United Arab Emirates for reproduction. The buyer is the horse-breeding farm Wrsan Stables. The sale was settled after the participation of the animal, an Arab thoroughbred, at the World Endurance Championship, which took place in the Emirates in January.

Press Release

RSC El Deb Haran in the Dubai desert, in January this year: successful in Brazil and abroad Isaura Daniel*

RSC El Deb Haran in the Dubai desert, in January this year: successful in Brazil and abroad

São Paulo - The semen of the Brazilian horse RSC El Deb Haran will be exported to the United Arab Emirates. The horse-breeding farm Wrsan Stables, located in Abu Dhabi and property of the emirate's royal family, will import the semen of the horse, an Arab thoroughbred stallion, for reproduction. According to the horse's proprietor, the Brazilian businessman Claudio Bagarolli, the shipment should be made up to the month of October.

RSC is 13 years old and is part of the horse-breeding farm Rancho Santa Cândida, in the city of Campinas, in the interior of the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo. The animal was the Brazilian equestrian endurance champion in 1999 and has competed twice outside Brazil. The first in the World Equestrian Games, in 2002, where the animal won the title for Best Stallion and Best Brazilian Team. This second prize means it was the first horse to finish the test amongst the six Brazilian horses competing.

RCS's second competition abroad was at the World Endurance Championship, in January this year, in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The animal was once again the Best Stallion and Best Brazilian Team. It was in this competition that the Abu Dhabi farm was interested by the horse. "They wanted to buy the horse," explains Bagarolli. The businessman didn't accept selling the animal, but settled the semen sale.

The quantity to be shipped to the Emirates will be used to cover 50 mares. Another ten doses, enough for about ten mares, will be exported to the United States. The shipment will also be made up until the month of October. The semen, which will be transported frozen, has already been collected. The proprietor of the Rancho Santa Cândida farm is waiting only for the bureaucratic part of the transaction to be ready to make the shipment.

Santa Cândida

RSC was breeded by Bagarolli himself, who maintains about 30 horses in his farm. The Rancho Santa Cândida is not open to the public. The businessman has at the place a training centre, but only for his horses.

Currently 18 horses are being trained, preparing for the competitions. The animals start being trained at the age of ten. In the beginning they participate in 20 kilometres races until they reach 160 kilometres, distance stipulated for the world competitions.